Sonic and Mario: A Universal Collision
by Mara360
Summary: A warrior of fire and a warrior of wind come together in an event that will shake the Cosmos to it's core... Sonic/Mario Crossover; Rated T for more adult-like themes and maybe a little swearing. On hold.
1. Prologue: Past's Chance

_The Universe... An infinite amount of mass and matter infinite-expanding through a void, containing trillions upon trillions of galaxies so far apart that no one galaxy can see another form of intelligent life other than their own...Some galaxies have planets. Even less have life on the planets. Even less have Heroes and Villains waging war across each planet._

_Heroes and Villains... The small select group of people in the universe that have the power to do miraculous things, whether good or evil. However, each has the unfortunate ability of being the only one who carries the burden of protecting or destroying the universe if given the power to do so._

_Some consider these special people as freaks and monsters, others as beacons of hope or despair. But what happens when two groups of these select people were to meet each other? But I get ahead of myself when telling these tales. Let us start with the problem that Fate gave these heroes that starts them on this experience that neither party can ever forget..._

_This universe is boring! _Said a youthful girl pulling string from a basket.

_Now, Past, we must not forget the duty that Mother Marienna has bestowed upon us. _Said a young woman pulling the length of string taught.

_Present is right. We must not neglect our duty to the Cosmos and to She We Owe All To. _Said an elderly woman cutting the string at just the right length.

_But Future! We're the Fates! We can do whatever we want to whomever we want whenever we want! _Past said exasperatedly

_Naïve, just like the rest of the Cosmos. _Future grunted.

_Future, Past. The rest of the Cosmos is sleeping, it is time for rest. _Present said in a sleepy voice.

_Finally, a break for these old bones. _Future said relived _Come now, time for rest._

_Past? _Present said worriedly

_I'll be with you in a moment, _Present. Past said staring at the ball of the Cosmos. Present left the room and Past was all alone.

_Now's my chance! I can stir a bit of trouble up in the universe, even if for a moment! _She said excitedly.

She swirled the Ball of the Cosmos to view her favorite planet in all the universe. She called it Mobius, the first planet she ever named. She saw a sad scene, a blue king gathering the Chaos Emeralds to perform a rite in which he gave his life-string length up for his beloved wife and kingdom.

_Oh no! My favorite Hero in all of the Cosmos! His lifeline is short and he will not survive! _All seemed lost for past. Then she had an Idea._ But maybe... Maybe if I lengthen the string and hide the ball no one will know! Now, how does Present give length to the life thread? Oh yeah! Energy! But I have to quickly cut the string and make another just in succession, or he'll vanish from the universe._

She quickly, in the nick of time, cut the length of string,and tied it to the Queen's life force. With her feet, she pulled another string just for him. He was safe in the void. But only long enough to have the thread lengthened and a path of life chosen for him. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

_A warrior of fire and a warrior of wind come together in an event that will shake the Cosmos to it's core..._ Past said taking multiple life-threads she liked and intertwined them together. Satisfied with her work, Past hid the mass in her dress and went to rest.

Authors Note[A/N: Sorry for giving you all a lesson in science and literature. And the boring plot device. Things start slow, but that builds suspense. ;)]


	2. A Second Chance

The planet Mobius. A pristine planet that was once devastated by the evil Doctor Robotnick and his cohort Snively. But that was years ago, when the Freedom Fighters were young kids trying to save their once wonderful planet. Now, you see the Hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, has won the Princess Sally Acorn, and many years of peace reined, much to the discomfort of the Hero-Fanatic, Amy Rose. The entire team older and more mature than the rest of the planet...

Life was good for all on the planet Mobius...

But one dark day, when the Acorn Kingdom was in the worst state, and the Princess living her last moments in this life the Hero had to make a tough choice that would govern the fate of his entire world...

His life for the Kingdom, or the Kingdom for his life?

The Hero loved the Princess deeply, and also knew that she was the only one who could save the Kingdom from destroying itself from the inside out. Gathering the help of his old friends and robotized family, the Hero gathered the Chaos Emeralds. The Master Emerald, the source of the ultimate power that was bestowed between the gems of the seven Chaos Emeralds, was also used in the rite in which the Hero had made his choice. He gave his life to the Princess so that she would be able to rule the Kingdom long enough to pull it out of despair and to have another long Golden Age of Peace...

Alas... The Hero had supposedly died that day giving all he had to the Princess...

Or at least, that was what the public thought. It is here that we begin our story...

'Am I... Dead?' Sonic thought in the infinite darkness that enveloped his mind. He tried to move a part of his body, anything to prove he was there. But there was nothing to move. 'I must be... Well, I've lived more than a full life...' He let his mind start to drift into nothingness when there was a light.

'What is that?' Sonic wondered, unable to move or do anything about it, 'Is it heaven? Hell? Some reincarnation for me to live another life?' The light grew brighter, and brighter until it enveloped his conscience. 'Too bright...' he thought and automatically tried to shut his eyes, if he still had them. He was surprised to find he was able to shut out the light from blinding him. He let in the light again but slowly.

He saw a lavender sky covered in stars and clouds. Sonic wanted to see more. He habitually moved to sit upward, and found he was able to. Looking to his left he found a small cluster of mountains in the distance, and a crystal clear lake nearby. Looking to his right he found a forest vibrant in the greens and browns that covered the trees.

Sonic felt tense and exhausted. 'Strange...' he thought lazily, 'Spirits don't get tired... Or do they?'

He looked directly in front of him, and saw a familiar pair of red and white sneakers...

Sonic stared. He then continued looking more towards himself and saw white socks, blue legs, a beige oval on a blue torso...

He got up on his feet, shocked and wide awake. He had white gloves and beige arms... Sonic could feel tension in his chest, though he was absolutely certain his heart wasn't beating. He walked towards the lake. As he got close the water acted like a mirror for him. He looked in and saw a familiar face with a beige muzzle, pointy ears, blue quills and emerald green eyes...

"N-No way!" he yelled in a young voice. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. He was alive, or as tangible as being alive. He was also a lot younger than what age he was supposed to be.

He was fifteen again.

But how? He was certain he was dead five minutes ago! And not even six minutes ago he gave his life up to Sally to save the Kingdom! But here he was. Close to being alive as he could without a heartbeat.

"Oh, you got here sooner than I thought!" said a young, female voice behind him. He turned around abruptly to see a human teenager with straight blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a light-blue skirt, and a white shirt with a cobalt blue coat over it. In her hair, was a midnight blue headband that held back her golden hair. She had white feathered wings on her back and a glowing ring over her head. She looked familiar, though Sonic had never met her.

"I'm sorry I startled you." She said in an angelic voice.

"Nah, it's OK" Sonic said. He instinctively smiled, though he didn't know why. The girl giggled.

"It must be a shock, to come back from a near-death experience..." she said softly, with a little bit of mournful sorrow hinted in her voice.

"Ah, y-yeah." Sonic stammered. How could she know that he was dead for a second? And why did she sound so sad? The fact that he had seen her before but couldn't place her name was bugging the hell out of him. He knew her, but not directly.

The two looked at each other for a while without speaking. Sonic was trying to place her name, but was having difficulty doing so. The girl continued to look at him like she was relived and happy to see him.

Finally, after a long moment of silence she said looking away from Sonic, "I wonder if Shadow ever mentioned me..." She started to walk away from him, an air of sadness lingered behind.

Suddenly it clicked in Sonic's head. He knew her from old photographs Shadow had showed him!

"Wait!" Sonic exclaimed. The girl stopped and looked at Sonic with curiosity. "You wouldn't happen to be... Maria Robotnick, would you?"

She looked shocked momentarily, and then ecstatic.

"He did mention me! That means he remembers! He remembers EVERYTHING!" the girl cried out happily. Happiness filled the air, and it made the wind blow.

Sonic stood there, confused and happy. He was glad he made her happy. But he had realized a key detail.

"Wait, aren't you dead?" Sonic asked, feeling stupid the moment he said that.

Maria stopped. "...Yes." she said sadly. The air of happiness was still there. "But as long as Shadow remembers me, it doesn't matter." She had a smile on her face.

Sonic was relived. He was worried he had made her upset. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his chest. He put a hand up to feel for damages. Instead he felt a thudding in his chest. 'M-My heart...' Sonic thought, thoroughly shocked, 'It's... beating?'

"Is something wrong?" Maria said, her turn to worry.

The pain grew as blood was pumped though his body. He gasped for air, his breathing irregular and short. He collapsed to the ground gasping. His vision was being covered in blackish-red spots that grew over his eyesight. He could taste copper in his mouth.

"Sonic!" Maria screamed, "Breath! Breath naturally! Don't struggle!" She lay her hands on his side unsure of what to do.

'I-I n-need to c-calm down!' Sonic thought. He ignored the pain as much as he could and focused his mind. The more he focused the more calm he became and the more he could breathe. The pain eventually ceased and he got up feeling great.

"Sonic?" Maria said, close to fainting with worry.

"I'm fine," Sonic said, as he wiped the blood off his mouth and muzzle, "you don't have to worry about me." He grinned like crazy. He was lightheaded from the second near-death experience. He inhaled, and smelled the fresh aroma of flowers. When he exhaled, he felt more filled with life. He picked a white flower that was nearby the lake and handed it to Maria.

"Now, after all that drama," Sonic said after Maria took a whiff of the flower, "can you fill me in on a few details?"

"O-Of course!" Maria stammered.

"OK" Sonic said, "First off, where am I?"

"Believe it or not..." Maria said, "This is the center of the universe."

"So, this isn't heaven?" Sonic asked.

"Well, it's sort-of like heaven." Maria said, "All souls come here to find their next course of action, whether to be reincarnated or to finally move on to heaven."

"Right." Sonic said, only slightly confused, "OK, so if you're dead, and I've returned from the grave, why aren't you in heaven and why am I not back on Mobius?"

Maria chuckled. "The Fates work in odd ways..." Maria said, "You've been selected. 'For what?' you may ask, but even I don't know that. All they told me to do was to pull you away from Death and bring you to your next destination."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Sonic asked.

"To a place called the Mushroom Kingdom on a planet that does not have a name." Maria replied.

Sonic took a moment to process what he had just learned. He was at the center of the universe in a Heaven-like place because he was chosen by fate to do whatever the hell it is they want him to do on a planet that doesn't have a name. He frowned, it didn't make any sense. He was supposed to be dead right now, not gallivanting off to some other world. And oddly it sort of made sense in some bizarre way.

"So why not put me in my original body? Y'know, I'm kinda like... Fifty..." Sonic said.

"You had little life left in that body." Maria said, "Besides you're much more flexible and versatile in that body. Not to mention more cute." She added blushing.

"I'm not undead right? Like a zombie?" Sonic asked, thinking how nauseating it would be to have an arm fall off.

"Oh, good heavens no!" Maria said, gasping at the ghoulish and gruesome thought, "No, you're very much alive."

"And I'm not eternal or invincible right?" Sonic asked timidly. Death was, honestly, something he didn't wanted to experience again.

"Well..." Maria said hesitating to explain, "You're not invincible, you can still be killed, but..." She looked like she was afraid to tell him the rest. But she continued. "You'll age incredibly slow. As in, you'll outlive the lifespan of your galaxy. But after so many years you could die of old age. So you're not eternal, but your close to it."

Sonic's mind was blown. Outlive the entire life of his galaxy? As in trillions upon trillions of years?

"Um... W-wow..." Sonic stammered, not knowing what to say.

"I... Wanted to make sure you had enough time to do what you needed to do..." She said shyly.

A moment of silence was in place. Sonic settled with this new though about possibly being trillions of years old.

"Right. How am I supposed to get to that Kingdom place?" He asked after a while.

"Well," Maria said, glad he asked, "I can send you the fun way or the normal way."

"Whats the fun way?" Sonic asked.

"I launch you into space with a protective shield against any space dangers as you travel at the speed of light looking upon all the galaxies you pass until you reach your destination." Maria said, "I will not be able to accompany you though."

"That does sound like fun." Sonic said, "Yeah, I think I'll do that."

Maria nodded. Instantaneously, a blue light enveloped Sonic and he was being lifted from the ground.

"One more thing I must say!" Maria called out, "I will be able to send you friends to you, but only one by one!"

"Got it!" Sonic called back, and gave her a thumbs up. Sonic was then launched into the Cosmos.

"Good bye and good luck." Maria whispered as she vanished back into heaven.

The trip was fast but beautiful as the Mobian hero traversed the universe. He stared in awe at all the colors and shapes of the galaxies and stars. When he came close to the planet he was supposed to be on, he went thought the atmosphere and crashed with a large boom on the ground.

Sonic was so exhausted by the time he got there that he only lay there and passed out.


	3. That Fateful Morning

It was an awesome morning to wake up to, considering that the day before one Hero was hard at work again. The Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, had worked his ass off the and deserved to sleep in. His brother, Luigi was already up and doing the morning chores.

'He's been working too hard lately.' Luigi thought to himself as he swept the kitchen floor, 'He does so much for everyone and asks for little in return. Man, my Bro. is so cool he saved the Universe one time!' By now, Luigi had taken the wet laundry he had out to dry. 'The most I've ever done is cleaned a mansion of ghosts. I'm actually a little jealous of him.'

As Luigi was straightening the laundry as so that there were no wrinkles, a flying brown flying turtle wearing a flying suit and a mail satchel arrived.

"'Morning Luigi!" the friendly Parakoopa stated.

"Good morning, Parakarry." said Luigi, "The usual fan mail for Mario?"

"Actually, I took care of those for him." Parakarry said, "I've brought a few letters from his friends and the Princess. Oh, and there's a newspaper with an important headline." He handed a small pack of letters to Luigi.

"I'll bring it to Mario." Luigi said, taking the packet.

"Alrighty!" Parakarry said cheerfully. With all that said, he flew off. Luigi went inside and heard the shower was on.

He went into the kitchen and started cooking breakfast. He took out two Big Eggs and two Turtley Leafs. He left the letters on the table for Mario to read. He put the kettle on the stove to make the Koopa Tea from the Turtley Leafs. His Brother got out of the shower, changed into his daytime clothes, and went to the table with a smile on his face.

"Hey Bro." Luigi said, bringing the tea and eggs to Mario.

"'Morning Luigi!" Mario said cheerfully. Grabbing the mail on the table, he sat down to have breakfast with his Brother. He hadn't had a morning like this in what felt like ages. Fully refreshed, and not by means of devices, food, adrenaline, or naps in inns. This is just what he needed. A few moments of a normal life.

"Parakarry took care of the fan letters for you." Luigi said as he drank his tea.

"I'll have to thank him for that." Mario said as he looked through the letters. There were letters from all of his friends from previous adventures. Goombella, Goombario, Kooper, and Vivian all sent their regards and wished him well.

"Oh, I've almost forgot." Luigi said, grabbing the newspaper "You've got a letter from the Princess."

Mario grabbed the pink letter that remained unopened. He wondered what the princess could want from him now. Surprisingly there were two letters in the envelope, the first a simple letter asking for how he was doing. The second one made Mario concerned.

_Mario,_

_ Something fell from the sky last night and into the courtyard, as the news states today. We found an unknown alien in the middle of the crater it made. I've already contacted Elvin Gadd and Yoshi to come to the castle to help investigate who and what it is. If you could, please come to the castle and bring your brother as well, to help in case it isn't friendly._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Princess Peach._

"What's wrong Mario?" Luigi said putting down the newspaper. His brother had furrowed his eyebrows in irritation and sighed after finishing the letter.

"We have to head to the castle asap." Mario said before chowing down on his eggs.

Mario and Luigi quickly ate before slapping on their trademark hats, and headed straight to the castle.

"Where am I?" Sonic said. He was standing on an seemingly invisible platform in the dark, unsure of where he was. Taking a step forward he fell into the dark. Suddenly, people started flashing before his eyes as he fell; a man wearing a red cap, a black mouse, a teen with snow-white hair, and suddenly a flash of purple, before falling into darkness again.

Sonic awoke to voices nearby to him.

"Well Elvin?" spoke a female.

"I don't know what it is, Princess." an elderly mans voice spoke, "It's not an alien we've ever encountered before."

"Could it be dangerous?" spoke a young Italian man.

"Yes, possibly." the elder spoke, "But after facing Boos and Shroobs I think you could take an alien, Luigi."

"Besides," said a slightly older Italian male spoke, "You have me nearby."

I began to open my eyes. Slowly letting the light in, I saw a very pretty woman with blond hair and blue eyes to my left. To my right was an old man with a tuft of white hair.

"Oh! It's up!" the woman spoke.

Sonic was dazed from waking up. He tried to sit up, but his muscles refused to work well.

"Are you injured?" the woman asked, "Well, you don't seem to be hurt." she added helping Sonic prop himself up.

He could see across the room, by a door, were two men. They wore almost the exact same clothing. One was taller and wore mainly green. The other was shorter an wore mainly red.

Sonic's headache cleared up and he managed to stay upright.

"Could you tell us your name?" the woman spoke.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." he said with a smile

"Well hello there," said the old man, "I am Professor Elvin Gadd, most call me E. Gadd for short."

"I'm Luigi," said the man dressed in green, "And this is my brother Mario." he added indicating to the man in red, who only stared at Sonic with a harsh look in his eye.

"And my name is Princess Peach, I rule over the Mushroom Kingdom." said the woman bowing.

Sonic's ears perked. Wasn't he supposed to be here...? He remembered Maria's words...

_"... a place called the Mushroom Kingdom..."_ she had said...

"You fell from a great height," said E. Gadd, "Most likely from the point of when our planet's gravity takes a hold on an object. Tell me, what happened before you hit the ground."

Sonic tried to remember, but the place and events were a blur. All he could recall was the conversation he had with Maria. He could just barely recall anything before that either, he could hear the conversations and recognize the voices, but he couldn't remember what anything looked like or what had happened.

"Did you... lose your memory?" Peach asked worriedly.

"Yeah..." Sonic said quietly. He could feel the glare coming from Mario intensify.

Suddenly, the building they were in began to rumble... At first it was soft so no one could feel it,but it intensified as they held their question and answer session. Everyone remained silent, waiting for something else. Mario tensed up like he was expecting a fight while looking at the ground. Luigi looked very nervous and cowered behind Mario. Peach looked worried, staring at the ground as if it would swallow her up. E. Gadd was focusing on the hand-held device he had, working furiously. Sonic could feel his quills tingle. That was never a good sign.

Then, the rumbles stopped. Nobody moved. Their breathing was loud. Sonic could hear each of their hearts thump in their chest madly. Meanwhile, his quills were still tingling. He could almost feel electricity in the air. Sonic got out of the bed he was in and put his ear to the floor, signaling everyone to be quiet. He focused in underground. He heard small mechanical noises and the sound of an an engine starting up.

Right underneath Mario and Luigi. He could hear something burrow it's way through the rock, and fast.

"Look out!" Sonic shouted as he shoved Mario and Luigi aside, only to be hit by a giant drill, just moments from where they were standing. Sonic flew back to the other side of the room, and hit the wall. The drill retracted as soon as it hit Sonic.

"Sonic!" Peach shrieked in worry.

Sonic got up and brushed himself off.

"I'll be Ok." He said to the Princess.

There was a deep growl, followed by a sinister laugh...


	4. Surprise Attack! Bowser and Eggman!

There was smoke coming from that new hole in the ground. Out of it, came a hulking turtle-dragon. He wielded a hand drill that was as large as his massive body.

"Bowser!" Mario exclaimed. Luigi looked on in horror at the turtle-dragon.

"Well, it seems our surprise attack didn't work..." the supposed "Bowser" said.

"By my calculations, they should be knocked out!" said an annoyingly familiar voice.

A massive man in a floating machine came from the hole. He was bald, had black glasses, had an orange mustache, and wore a red jacket. Sonic's quills bristled as he recognized the new figure before him.

"Dr. Eggman." Sonic snarled, bearing his fangs. His hands clenched and his body protecting the Princess, he was ready to strike at his arch-nemesis.

"Oh-ho! If it isn't Sonic!" Dr. Eggman said surprised, "I haven't seen you in a good fifteen years!"

"You know this thing?" Bowser asked.

"Better than he knows himself..." Eggman said, grinning evilly.

Sonic uttered a low growl. He absolutely hated this man. He recalled sending him off into space, without a suit, just before the years of peace he had. How on Mobius did he survive that?

"I would absolutely love to chat and catch up on old times," Eggman said, "but we have so much on our plates." His hovercraft extended a mechanical hand an grabbed Peach.

"MARIO!" she screamed.

At this, Mario ran into action, pulled out a hammer and came crashing down on the mechanical arm. But he was stopped by a force field.

"Humph, is that all the mighty Mario has to offer? Oh, please." Eggman said, smacking Mario aside with the mechanical arm and making him slam into a wall.

"Mario!" Luigi cried out, rushing to the aid of his beaten brother.

"Ha! Nice one!" Bowser exclaimed, "Now-"

Suddenly, Eggman's hovercraft started to malfunction. The robot arm let go of Peach, right on top of Mario and Luigi. The force field was down!

"My turn!" Sonic cried out, charging a spin-dash. He hurtled himself at Eggman, knocking him out of his ride then coming around again at Bowser with a Homing Attack.

"Grah! You'll pay for that!" Bowser exclaimed, lunging the drill at Sonic.

Sonic evaded with ease, and came in for an Axle Kick, knocking Bowser into the hole and destroying his drill at the same time.

"We'll get you next time!" Bowser yelled as he fell.

Sonic's quills settled down after he heard a loud thud at the bottom of the chasm. He went over to Mario, Luigi ans Peach.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Sonic asked softly, holding out his hand to help her up.

"Y-Yes, all thanks to you." Peach said, looking at him in wonder.

Mario saw all of this. He looked at Sonic with a questioning look in his eye. Sonic returned the look with a simple smile. He the helped Mario up with an outstretched hand.

"My, my, that was a sight to see, now wasn't it?" E. Gadd said, "Now, I suppose we leave here before Bowser and that other character appear again."

They all left the room. As Peach left, she felt a sudden presence, as if she was being watched...

"Something wrong, your highness?" E. Gadd said.

"...No. Nothing's wrong." she said, walking out of the room.

Then, silence. But that silence was broken by a disembodied voice.

"Well, well, well..." it said, "This is quite amazing."

Through some dimensional rift, a jester-like being appeared.

"It seems Mario made a new friend." it said, "And the Princess... hmm... She noticed me on a different plane of existence, how... Marvelous... It means that everything should go according to Count Bleck's plan. And there is the offer of that one individual to discuss... Hmm, yes..." After his monolouge, the figure disappeared through another rift.


	5. The Call for Help

Later in the throne room, Peach sat on her throne, and a short man wearing a brown mushroom-like hat stood next to her.

"Sonic, could you tell us who that man we faced was?" Princess Peach asked.

"I recognized him on sight." Sonic replied, "His name is Dr. Eggman. He's done many terrible things."

He tried to think back to the things Eggman did, but instead came up with a foggy setting, a discordant hum of noises, and Eggman being the only distinct object in the memories.

"I cant remember everything, though..." he added, his head pounding.

Princess Peach only nodded. Mario leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, and he was defiantly not paying attention to the conversation at hand. He then realized a key detail.

"Princess, where's Yoshi?" Mario asked.

"He was supposed to meet us here..." Princess Peach said, now realizing that Mario's dear friend was not there.

"He's always come when you ask, Princess." Luigi input.

"Who's Yoshi?" Sonic asked.

"He is a friend of Mario's." Peach responded.

"I'm getting an incoming transmission on my DS Horror, from Yoshi's Island." E. Gadd stated, "I'll put it on a larger screen." He then seemingly pulled a TV out of nowhere.

"Wait... How'd you do that?" Sonic asked, confused.

"Plugging my DS Horror into the TV..." E. Gadd muttered to himself, not responding to Sonic's question.

Static came on the gray screen for a second.

"KRRRRZZZZT... El... KRRRZZZT... Elvin, can you hear me?" a voice on the TV spoke as an image of what appeared to be a cross between a mad scientist and a mushroom.

"We read you loud and clear, Professor Frankly." E. Gadd said, "Where are you, and why are you using an Emergency Line?"

"Where? I'm on Yoshi's Island for the Star Spirit's sake!" said the mushroom-like scientist, "As for why, there's been an extreme problem forming on the dormant volcano here. Something or someone is trying to activate it!"

"WHAT?" Everyone, except Sonic, shouted.

"It appears that something crashed inside the volcano last night." Prof. Frankly said, "Reports were scattered, but all of the Yoshi here on the Island claimed to have seen a heavenly blue light after the object crashed. This morning, a stranger came and asked about the volcano. Afterward, that same person went to the volcano, and never came back. Mario's Yoshi, went to find them and hasn't returned yet."

"Hey, are you talking to Mario?" says a teens voice, "Can I talk to him?"

"Goombella please!" Professor Frankly says before getting shoved over by a female mushroom-like archeologist.

"Hiya Mario!" Goombella shouts through the TV, "Ohmigosh! Have you heard the news? Well, I suppose you have, but no one else is gonna believe this."

Now everyone was interested, they looked towards the screen eyes and ears open.

"I'm getting married!" she shouted excitedly

At first everyone was shocked, but they all congratulated her with huge smiles.

"Who's the lucky man?" Mario asked.

"His name's... Goombario." she sighed, lovestruck.

Mario looked shocked. It couldn't be...

"When do we get to meet him?" Luigi questioned, "Does he actually love you? What's he like? Has he seen other girls?"

"Uh..." Goombella tried to answer, but she was then interrupted by Prof. Frankly.

"We can get to that later." he said, shoving her out of the way, "For now we have more pressing matters. I've finished setting up my lab here. According to the machines here, if this activity within the volcano continues, all of Yoshi's Island will be destroyed in the following eruption."

"Oh my!" Peach gasped, "What can we do?"

"Whatever you do, it is important you make it quick." Prof. Frankly said, "I don't know how long it'll be before there's mass panic on the Island."

"I'll send Mario over right away." Peach said.

Prof. Frankly nodded. With that the TV shut off.

"Well, this is a rather sticky wicket, isn't it Princess?" said the small, brown, human-like mushroom next to her.

"Yes, Toadsworth," she replied, "Which is why I'm sending Mario there. Please, help them. I'm sorry I'm making you do this." she added.

"It's fine Princess." he said smiling wearily.

"Mario, let me go with you." Luigi said, "If you run into anything too terrible, I'll be there to help you out."

Mario nodded.

"I'll send you by helicopter." Peach said, "When you're ready, come see me at the top of the castle."

With that, the Mario Bros., Peach, and Toadsworth left the room.

Sonic stood there with E. Gadd, who was packing his stuff up.

"They seem reliable." Sonic said, trying to break the silence.

"That's because they are." E. Gadd simply put.

E. Gadd left afterward without another word.

_'They are here...'_ said a sudden voice, echoing throughout the throne room.

"What? Who's here?" Sonic questioned.

_'The servers...'_ the voice whispered to a dead silence.

Silence. This silence was an eerie silence, telling of a horrible future. It penetrated Sonic's very being, making his quills stand on end, and making him shudder. He felt something terrible would happen. But what could it be?

Suddenly, Maria's voice floated on the wind. Her voice was a sweet melody, soothing, driving the darkness away.

"Go to Yoshi's Island." she said, "There is a good surprise waiting for you there..."

"Well, I always do follow the wind..." he muttered to himself, and smirked. Yeah, he was going into a strange world, towards an Island. Not the best idea, but hey, Fate called out to him through Maria.

With that he left the building. But he wasn't alone...

A tall figure wearing a black cloak appeared from behind the throne. The hole where the head can come through was dark, and staring at Sonic with intense interest..


	6. Battle! Duo Sirens!

Mario and Luigi went back to their house to get some supplies. Mario grabbed their hammers and a few useful badges they had received during their adventures. Luigi grabbed the snack basket and made a few useful food items in case they felt peckish. He filled the snack basket to the brim with sweet foods, though he wasn't sure why he did it.

"Ready Bro.?" Luigi asked.

Mario nodded. He was determined that Yoshi would be rescued and that Yoshi Island would be safe, one way or another.

Sonic was rushing through the Kingdom, waiting for the Mario Bros. to get on the helicopter so he could follow them. He saw many strange things on this world. Walking turtles, walking mushrooms, and giant plants with teeth, only to name a few of the strange sights.

'So many strange things are on here.' Sonic thought, 'Will someone teach me what goes on in this world?'

He'd stopped in a forest covered in brown and yellow leafs. It smelled like syrup and honey all around him. The wind blew playfully, ruffling up Sonic's quills and stirring the leafs.

'Hell, there have been a lot of strange things that happened to me as well...' Sonic thought. He tried to remember something, but drew up the same discordant noises, the same fog, and only Eggman. His head ached again and he sighed.

The wind suddenly blew to the right, having the feeling of fear. Sonic heard someone rushing through the leafs towards him. The figure that came towards him was so sudden, that they collided.

"Ow..." moaned the figure. It was a girl. She wore a pointy hat that was striped with red and white. She had curly bubblegum pink hair that swept over her eyes. She was mainly purple that reminded Sonic of a shadow and her small pink lips were upturned into a frightened frown.

"Hey, you OK?" Sonic asked.

"Huh?" the girl looked up, "Oh! I'm sorry! I guess I should've watched where I was going... Stupid me..." she added in a mutter.

"VIVIAN!" someone rather old shouted.

"Oh no!" she whispered, "Help me!" the girl said, hiding behind Sonic.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"M-my s-sisters..." she said trembling, "Th-they've gotten i-increasingly violent lately... C-continuously punishing me for things I haven't done..." She cowered in fear, clinging to Sonic's arm like a small child holds its parents arm.

Two figures came from where the girl came. Both looked similar to the girl. The shorter, and clearly older, one had gray hair and wore a pointed hat that was striped blue and white. Her nose was long and pointed. The other was rather round. Her pointy hat was yellow and white. Her yellow hair was swept like the girl's only it was more like a bob-cut type.

"Now Vivian..." the old lady spoke, trying to contain the rage, "You must go home and-"

"NO!" the girl shouted, "I'm never going back Beldam! I don't want to be anywhere near you or Marilyn ever again!"

"Tch..." the old woman, supposedly Beldam, scoffed. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Guah?" the round woman, Marilyn, spoke.

"You there!" Beldam spoke, pointing towards Sonic, "Hand over our... Clearly delusional sister... And I'll make it worth your while."

"Please don't, please don't, please don't..." Sonic could hear Vivian whisper.

"Sorry. No deal!" Sonic said, "If she doesn't want to stay with you, why make her?"

"Very well..." Beldam muttered, "We'll take her by force! Marilyn! To arms!"

"Guah!" Marilyn shouted.

Marilyn shot out lightning from her fingers while Beldam froze Sonic's feet. He barely felt it, a weak bolt that only felt like a static shock to him. The ice however was too thick for Sonic to move. There was a sudden warmth from within the ice. The ice began to melt!

Sonic charged a spin-dash that knocked the sisters off of their feet.

"We aren't finished yet!" Beldam shouted.

Marilyn and her charged an powerful ice-lightning attack. It grew into a immense ball of blue lightning. Someone grabbed Sonic around the waist, and dragged him through the ground. He could see the ball hit the ground where he had been standing only a moment ago. He rose though the ground and he was not in a good mood.

"Hey, try using that ball thing again." Vivian said.

Sonic charged his spin-dash However he felt something warm encase him as he spun. When he hit the two evil sisters. He saw that he had left a blazing trail, and that the two sisters had been defeated.

"Guah..." Marilyn moaned.

"Grr..." Beldam growled, "Fine, Vivian, you win. Do as you like. We're through with you..." Bedlam got up and began to drift away from them.

Marilyn stayed behind for a second looking upset, but she too left with a sad "Guah..."

"Oh, thank you!" Vivian exclaimed with joy, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Heh, it was no problem..." Sonic said, with a smile.

"I'm so sorry I put you through this." Vivian said, "Say, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Sonic," he said, "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Thank you very much, Sonic." she said, giving him a small smooch on the cheek.

There was a small silence. Vivian looked very happy for a moment, but then looked worried.

"Wait, where will I go?" She said, "Oh dear, I didn't plan as far ahead..."

_'Leave her... She will be a liability...' _whispered the ominous voice from before.

"Hey, don't worry." Sonic said, "You can hang out with me until you find a place to stay."

"R-really?" Vivian said, "You would let me stay?"

Sonic nodded. Vivian looked ecstatic She jumped for joy and tackled Sonic in a hug.

"Thank you! I'll do my best to help out!" Vivian exclaimed happily.

_'You are making a mistake...'_ the voice whispered.

"So where will we go?" Vivian asked.

"I have to find out where Yoshi's Island is." Sonic said.

"Oh! I know where to go!" Vivian said, "Follow me!"

She started to glide towards the general direction of Toad Town, but Sonic picked her up and ran as fast as possible without making everything a blur.

"H-How-?" Vivian stammered.

"I'm able to run as fast as the speed of sound." Sonic said.

"Oh! So that's why you're called Sonic..." Vivian said.

"Yup!" Sonic said, proudly, "So, where to?"

"Head to Toad Town," Vivian said, "facing the castle, head south until you hit the beach, after that it's a direct south-west travel from the docks."

"OK, hold on tight!" Sonic said, picking up the pace.

"AAAAHH!" Vivian screamed as both of them sped off.

A figure came from behind a tree at the outskirts of the forest. It was the same that had looked at Sonic from behind the throne Intense hostility emanated off of the figure, but it returned to a calm, almost deathlike position. There it stood for a moment before vanishing behind the same tree.


	7. The Journey Truly Begins

Peach waited for the Mario Bros. to show up, holding her personal helicopter at the launch pad.

"So, how long d'ya think they'll be?" the pilot asked.

"I'm not sure..." she replied.

"Princess!" shouted Luigi, as he came up to the top.

"Sorry it took us so long!" Mario said.

"It's alright, but I think you'd better hurry." Peach replied, "There's no telling what could happen if you delay anymore..."

After the Mario Bros. got on the helicopter, the princess gave Mario a goodbye kiss, and they both left for Yoshi's Island.

Sonic and Vivian made it to Toad Beach. Many Toads were enjoying themselves on the beach. Sun tans, sand castles, blooper surfing- you name it, it was being done. Sonic looked towards the sapphire-blue ocean. It sparkled, not unlike a Chaos Emerald. Vivian gingerly got out of Sonic's arms and wobbled a bit.

"You ok?" Sonic asked, seeing Vivian nearly lose her balance.

"Y-Yeah..." she mumbled. He pink hair was a little frazzled under her hat. She hurriedly tucked it back into place.

Sonic could smell the salt of the ocean. The pulse of the waves was almost calming above the sound of the people on the beach. It soothed him a little, almost forgeting that he had something important to do...

"You run really fast." Vivian said, her hair now looking normal, "I guess it's why you're called Sonic."

"Yeup!" Sonic said, flashing a big grin.

"So, how do we get to Yoshi's Island from here?" Vivian asked, looking slightly worried, "We don't have a boat..."

Sonic remebered an ability he had. The peal-off dash. It enabled him to run at subsonic speeds the moment he took off. But Vivian barely managed to hang on last time, could she cling on this time?

"I think I can get us to the Island." Sonic said, "But you'd need to hold on tight, alright?"

Vivian nodded. She clambered onto Sonic's back. She held on firmly.

He pointed himself in the right direction and ran in place until his feet were a blur.

"Ready Vivian?" He asked.

She could only nod. She held onto her hat, her arms locked though Sonic's arms.

"Here we, GO!" he shouted as he ran forward, the water was no problem to cross, so long as he kept running. Vivian stayed on his back, holding on for dear life. Above them was a helicopter heading in the same direction.

Mario looked out the window, deep in thought. If what Frankly said was true, then his friend might be in trouble, to say the least. His head was in his hand, his elbow on the edge of the window, and he continued to gaze out at the sky.

Luigi on the other hand was looking intently at the ocean. He was wondering wither or not he'd be useful on this mission. He noticed something skim across the surface of the water. As soon as it came, it was gone in a flash. He wondered if a purple Cheap-Cheap got a hold of a Speed Flower...

"So, how're you guys?" asked the pilot.

"Fine." Mario said, only half paying attention.

"That's good." the pilot said, "This is my first flight, y'know? Man, if you'd told me yesterday I'd be escourting you guys, I would've said that you're crazy. By the by, my name's Tao."

Silence. Tao cleared his throat.

"The princess told me you guys have private business, huh?" he continued, "I won't pry, but I might learn a few things from the locals. Ass to mouth, y'know?" he laughed at his statement. Luigi's jaw unhinged. Mario didn't even notice.

"I kid, I kid. Hey, by the by, if you need a ride back the princess said to stay where you guys are." Tao said. Silence again. Within a half hour they reached Yoshi's Island.


	8. Jungle Regroup

Sonic and Vivian reached the Island beach in no time. Sonic took a moment to stretch his legs while Vivian fixed her hair again.

"So, where to next Sonic?" Vivian said as Sonic did some minor, one-handed push-ups.

"There are some people on the Island right?" He said looking up.

"Yes the Yoshi on the Island." Vivian said, "They have a village not far from here."

"Lead the way." Sonic said, gesturing with one hand, a smile, and a slight bow.

They walked a ways in the jungle. It seemed quiet for the most part. Some peculiar plants were sleeping. Then, there was a sudden noise.

"NEEEYOOORK!"

"Wh-What was that?" Sonic stammered, startled by the sudden noise.

"That must have been a Fuzzie." Vivian said. She continued to walk ahead, unnerved

"Um... Just what exactly is a Fuzzie?" Sonic asked.

Suddenly, a group of 5 green fluffy puff-balls dropped from the canopy of leafs. One of them bit Sonic on the shoulder drawing a little blood. It jumped back with the group and snickered at Sonic.

"Those are." Vivian said holding up her palm towards them. Her hand cast a small fireball and she threw it towards the green Fuzzies. They scattered like crazy.

"Whoa.. You can cast fire?" Sonic asked.

"As well as other things." She said, proud of her abilities.

"So... Wait. YOU were the one helping me fight your sisters?" Sonic asked, it having only clicked into his head now.

"Oh, I thought you had figured that out." Vivian said, "Anyway, yes I was."

There were a lot of annoying green Fuzzies that occasionally got in the way, but with Vivian's fire they were kept at bay. Vivian explained that the green Fuzzies were called Forest Fuzzies. They could sap your health and were incredibly mischievous. The sleeping plants were called Piranha Plants, normally aggressive, it was wise for them to not wake the Piranha Plants up.

The jungle smelled more like a damp forest, if anything. He inhaled, recalling the Great Forest in which Knothole was... He sighed. He wondered if doing that ritual was the best choice. He left his friends, his family, his kingdom- all for Sally. Then he remembered how much the Kingdom meant to her.

There was the sound of panic going off in the distance. There were several angry shouts, several "NEEEYOOORK!"s, and a load of swearing.

"Sounds like trouble!" Sonic said running off without Vivian.

"Hey! Wait up!" Vivian exclaimed. She started to chase him, but was stopped by a noise in the bushes.

"H-Hello?" Vivian said, slightly frightened. She went to investigate the bush. There was a sudden snap and a cry of pain. She hurried to see what was behind the bush. Another snap. As she reached the bush she smelled a little blood. She pulled the leaves apart.

There was, what appeared to be a fox caught in two bear traps. One snapped on his leg, the other was on one of his two tails. Blood gushed out of the wounds. The most it could do was stand helplessly, or have it's face caught in another trap.

It whimpered as Vivian came closer.

"D-Don't hurt me..." it whispered.

"I wont hurt you." she said, pulling a stick off the ground. Carefully navigating through more traps, she dug her stick into the trap that had the leg and wedged it open a little. She then took a stick of larger thickness and wedged the trap enough for the foot to get out.

"C'mon... C'mon..." She mumbled. Just as the foot got out, the trap snapped and made Vivian stumble. If it wasn't for the fox, her head would've been crushed. With it's own hands, it saved her by an inch. She then set the chain that held the tail on fire. She caught the poor fox and managed to get out of that deathtrap.

Sonic ran to the source of the clamor. He saw several dinosaurs running around being chased by Forest Fuzzies, or trying to chase them out, he couldn't tell in all of the confusion. He wasn't sure what to do. The Fuzzies were all over the place and there were so many. He could try to Spin-Dash or try to use his Homing Attack on the Fuzzies, but he'd hit one of those dinosaur-people. Looks like he'd have to go slower if he wanted to save them from... Whatever it was the Fuzzies were doing.

He decided axle kicks were the best method. Quick and accurate, it enabled him to hit the Fuzzies without harming the dinosaurs. Eventually, the mischievous Forest Fuzzies cleared out.

"Yoshi!" said a voice from behind. Sonic turned around. All the dinosaurs looked happy and relived. They were all also similar in shape.

A yellow one came up to Sonic and licked his face.

"Ha ha! Hey, you're welcome!" Sonic exclaimed, the tong tickling him.

"Yoshi yoshi! Gar i-iba-hoo!" the yellow dino proclaimed happily.

"Sonic!" Vivian's voice cried out.

He saw her run from the direction he came in. Under her arm, limping, was...

"Tails?" Sonic exclaimed, shocked at both seeing his friend and the condition he was in.

"Sonic!" the young fox-kit exclaimed.

"You know him?" Vivian asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Sonic said taking his friend out of her arm.

"I-I don't know." She said, "You ran off. I thought something was following us, so I investigated. But your friend was caught in a massive trap."

"There were bear-traps everywhere." Tails said grimly, "I was lucky enough to miss them the first time, but when I tried to get away..." he indicated to his leg and tail. The fur cauterized the wounds, but they needed to be treated. A little bone was protruding a little out of the leg, his tail hung limp.

"Yoshi! Yoshi yoshi!" a cyan dino spoke up.

"Wh-What? You all set up the traps? Why?" Vivian exclaimed, shocked.

"Yo-Yoshi. Yoshi. Yoshi yoshi." it spoke again.

"Oh, I see." Vivian said.

"What did they say?" Sonic asked, a little confused.

"They said they set up the traps for the Fuzzies." Vivian replied.

"Um, can you guys treat my friends' wounds?" Sonic said, looking at Tails.

The yellow dino from earlier indicated towards a hut with a medical sign.

"Oh, thanks." Sonic helped his friend get to the medical hut. There was a red and white Yoshi standing there. Vivian waited outside.

"Welcome, I am Dr. Rosenhind." it spoke English, much to Sonic's surprise, "I've never seen you two before. Visiting, I presume?"

"Sorta..." Sonic said, "It's kinda private."

"Ah, well I won't intrude on the manner anymore." Rosenhind chuckled, "Now is there anything I can help you boys with?"

"My friend needs medical attention." Sonic said, "He unintentionally fell into a few bear-traps that you guys placed."

Dr. Rosenhind looked serious and went to Tails. While he was doing that, Sonic went outside. He felt a little dizzy inside. There was a sudden sharp pain on his shoulder. He looked to find the bite looked greener than normal. It itched a little too. Scratching and hoping the pain would go away, he saw a helicopter had landed nearby. He saw that Vivian was over by the pad as well as Goombella.

Someone came out of the helicopter. They were instantly tackled by the girls.

"Mario!" they both shouted, nearly drowning out the sound of a snap and a pain induced yelp.

Indeed, it was Mario. Luigi was there too. The girls said their polite hellos and instantly started talking Mario's ear off as they went to the center of the town.

"...and to my amazement, someone came to rescue me!" He heard Vivian say.

"Who was it?" he heard Mario question.

Vivian spotted Sonic. She ran over to him, happy to see him.

"Mario, this is Sonic. He's the one who saved me from my sisters." Vivian said excitedly

Mario just stared at Sonic in disbelief. There was no way they could have gotten over to the island without a method of transportation.

"What's wrong Mario?" Vivian said, her lips upturned in a small frown, "Are you two on good terms?"

"Hey, I haven't done anything to him." Sonic input.

Mario didn't say anything. He looked away to find Luigi running up to them.

"Tao really needs to learn some manners..." Luigi grumbled, "H-How did you get here?"

"He's an incredibly fast runner!" Vivian spoke up, "His running got us here!"

_'So _that's_ what I saw out the window.'_ Luigi thought.

Tails came out from the hut looking almost as good as new. There were still bandages, and he still limped, but he was able to walk.

"How're you doing, Tails?" Sonic said.

"Better, but I won't be able to fly for a while." he sighed, looking at his busted tail.

"Hey, no problem." Sonic said, "You're alright now. Thanks Vivian." He added to her.

"I-It wasn't a problem..." she mumbled, blushing.

Just then, Frankly walked up to the group. He greeted everyone and introduced himself to Sonic and Tails.

"I've already told you what's happened last night," Professor Frankly said, "so I don't need to explain the reason why Goombella and I are here."

"So we gotta hurry, right guys?" Goombella stated.

Vivian, Mario and Luigi nodded. They knew that the innocent Yoshi's of the Island would have little time to escape if the volcano erupted.

There was a large tremble. The whole Island shook as the volcano uttered a deep and quiet growl. Everyone managed to keep their balance... For now.

"It sounds like something unnatural is going on in the volcano." Tails muttered.

"Lets get going guys!" Goombella hissed, trying to push Mario along.

"Mind if we tag along?" Sonic asked. Mario opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Vivian.

"Of course!" she said, brightly, "With your speed, who knows? We might be able to find out what's going on faster!"

Sonic grinned. He hoisted Tails onto his shoulders, noticing the area of the bite had gone numb by now. He thought nothing of it and walked with the group, much to Mario's discomfort.


	9. Volcanic Climax

The jungle was incredibly dense as they walked. Rarely any enemies were to be seen as they walked the undergrowth path. Occasionally, a group of Green Fuzzies and regular Fuzzies obstructed their way. The Mario Bros. had little trouble clearing them out. Mario casted small fireballs and Luigi fried them with cyan-lightning. Mario walked through the jungle undaunted, as if he knew it like the back of his hand. Luigi and Goombella had a little trouble trying to keep up with him. Sonic and Vivian had some trouble getting through at certain points, but they managed to stick close to Luigi and Goombella.

At one point they almost lost Mario completely. Goombella went ahead and tried to find Mario, the group stayed behind as not to get lost. Tails sat on a nearby, mossy rock.

"Is Mario always quiet?" Sonic asked.

"Sometimes," Luigi said, "mostly when he's concentrating on the task at hand."

"He hasn't really talked to me..." Sonic muttered, he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

"I'm sure it's nothing Sonic." Vivian said, with a smile. She patted him on his good shoulder.

Goombella came back, Mario-less. She was breathing like she'd ran a mile.

"He sprinted for the volcano." she huffed, "Fortunately, it's not too far from here."

Sonic hoisted Tails on his back, realizing he'd lost all feeling on his bitten shoulder. Sonic frowned. That wasn't good, maybe he needed to say something about it.

"Hey, Sonic, I think some moss got onto your shoulder." Tails said, brushing at the bitten shoulder. Surprisingly, there was no wound. It was slightly tinted green though...

They walked/ran to the base of the volcano. Mario was nowhere in sight. Luigi started to climb.

"L-Luigi! Wait!" Goombella shouted, "He's just like his brother..." She grumbled.

"Vivian, take Goombella, Sonic, and Tails, and head back to the town for safety." Luigi called back.

Vivian took Goombella, they reluctantly left.

Sonic looked up at Luigi. He frowned. He knew that he was here for a reason. He felt he needed to help the Mario Bros. and the Yoshi's on the Island.

"Sonic?" Vivian said looking behind her.

"I'll catch up." He replied, not looking away.

They looked at each other, then left. Sonic looked up and charged his peel-off dash.

"S-Sonic? What're we doing?" Tails asked.

"We're going to help Mario and Luigi, that's what." Sonic replied, as he finished charging up.

Luigi was having a great difficulty climbing the side of the volcano. Sonic ran up the side with amazing speeds, grabbed Luigi by the arm, and was at a cave entrance before you could blink.

Luigi, astounded by how fast he just went, didn't realize at first who got him up there.

"Mama Mia.." Luigi said, dazed.

"You alright?" Sonic asked.

"I'm fine..." Luigi said, "Hey, didn't I tell you to with Vivian and Goombella?"

"Hey, if you or Mario get into trouble, someone needs to get help right away." Sonic reasoned.

"Oh..." Luigi said averting his eyes. Everyone saw footprints embedded in the ashes.

They followed the footprints. The cave was well-lit, surprisingly, by green and purple torches. As the group walked trough the cave, Sonic and Tails heard soft whirs of machinery. Barely noticeable, but it was still there. As they walked, they felt the temperature go drastic up. There was another rumble, much harsher than the last. Sonic managed to keep his ground, but Tails fell off of Sonic's back and knocked into Luigi. Sonic held on to the wall for support. He realized he'd lost all felling in his right arm and hand. Looking, he also noticed his arm was tinted green slightly, and it wasn't because of the lighting. He checked his bite-wound from the Forest Fuzzie. It had blackened, with a ring of green around it.

"Whew, that was a dozy..." Luigi mumbled, picking himself and Tails off of the ground. He hoisted Tails on his back and continued walking.

"Are you coming Sonic?" Tails said, looking back.

"Yeah." Sonic replied.

They soon reached the center of the volcano. It was desperately hot. But more surprising, was that there was machinery in here. Enough to power an entire city. There were three cave entrances.

"The footprints end here." Luigi sighed, "We should split up."

They each went in a cave. Sonic headed for the left, Tails limped to the center, Luigi headed to the right. Luigi continued down a dark hallway. Heard nothing except the sound of his breath.

"Hm... My, my... Walking alone, are we, Mr. L?" said a familiar voice.

Luigi looked around. Suddenly, Dimento appeared in front of him, right in his face. He chuckled, hearing Luigi's shocked yelp.

"Heh... You _always_ travel with your brother." Dimento remarked, "What happened? Brotherly argument? Can't get the Princess?"

Luigi only scowled at him. He tried to ignore him, walking along his path.

"You should know something... Important..." Dimento said, his voice now not his own. It was twisted, distorted, not unlike a possession

Luigi looked back at Dimento. A black aura encased him. His eyes were no longer yellow, but a dark purple and they emitted a strange, smoke-like energy. He actually would scare Mario out of his wits, if he didn't see it coming. Luigi tried his hardest to not cower in fear.

"Your world has less time..." He said.

Luigi stared at him in confusion. The aura intensified, lept at Luigi, wanting to take him over.

"You will be consumed... Darkness... Lingers... Destroys... Evil... Dominates... Blood-shed..." Dimento said, his words becoming choppy. The aura touched Luigi. It was cold, colder than the darkest regions of space. He lost feeling in his body. He wanted to move, to scream, to cry. Nothing happened. His body did not respond to the cries of his soul. He slowly lost conscience as the purple eyes stared him down, down into the darkness.

Tails mentally cursed himself for not choosing to stay on Luigi's back. His leg hurt like hell. His tail hurt like hell. His head hurt like hell, and the heat wasn't doing him a favor. He sat on the coldest rock he could find.

His mind traced back to a week ago, when Silver told him the future was in trouble, again. Back then, he was forty-five going on forty-six, Silver still looked like he was seventeen. It had been a weak after Sonic's untimely death. Amy had fallen into severe depression. Knuckles lost his left arm and his right eye, both replaced by robotic prosthetics, not to mention having his duty of being the Guardian of the Master Emerald taken away by robotic technology. The Freedom-Fighters had truly disband for the last time, after the rite. They had little contact between each other over the years, and eventually they stopped talking to each other altogether. Sally was never the same again, even in public. Her eyes seemed to look in the distance, even if she gave the media her full attention

After a week, Silver appeared at Tails workshop. He warned of a terrible fate Without Sonic, the world had plummeted into a dark abyss, governed by an evil power. Even he wasn't sure who or what that power was. He'd went to look for Sonic to warn him, but by that time, he was already dead. Silver refused to accept that Sonic had up and died. He somehow seemed to know better than Tails that Sonic was defiantly alive. Consulting the Master Emerald was a trip and a half, considering how much access Tails had to certain levels of classification Even further frustrate the Tails, the Master Emerald said to follow their hearts. Silver figured out what it meant and told Tails to build a machine that could cross dimensions After finding a suitable power source and making communicators, the two left to find Sonic.

However, during their first, and last, trip Silver just vanished. He'd received a heavy blow to the head after the machine started to malfunction, but before Silver disappeared He'd awoken on a strange Island. Even more strange was that he was ten again. After that, it wasn't long before Vivian found him and brought him to Sonic.

Now, the communicator currently on his wrist was busted, and without the right equipment he wasn't able to fix it yet. With no way of contacting Silver or getting back to Mobius, he was stuck, fortunately with Sonic.

His leg felt better after sitting for a while. He walked a short distance further and found what seemed to be a main generator. Tails looked inside the strange machine's glass dome. There was something glowing cyan in there. He squinted, but to no avail. He sighed loudly and sat on the nearest rock. Head in hand, he had no clue what to do. He was confused. He was in pain. He was lost. He was insanely hot. He took a nap on the rock, and tried to will the pain away.

Sonic walked down a wide hallway. Lit with red lights this time instead of green, he saw the real damage of the bite-wound. Not only had his arm lost all feeling and turned green, he felt and saw it in his other arm and right leg too. He was getting dizzy, he felt claustrophobic in the heat. He tried to shake off what could possibly be a life-threatening poison. Instead, he focused on finding Mario, his friend, the figure, or anything else worth of merit. However, he was too sick to hear a large beast slink behind him. It slithered on the floor, it's back body glistening with death. Lavender eyes focused on Sonic. It striked, wrapping itself around Sonic's neck. He performed a spin-dash to shake off the beast, and sprinted in the other direction.

He ran down the hallway Luigi had gone down, unsure why he chose that hallway. He continued to run, until he saw a row of cages. Panting because of the poison, he checked to see how bad the poison was. His right arm was entirely green, his left arm and legs slightly green.

"Sonic?" He heard.

He looked to see who called him. It was Mario. He was in a cage with another dino thing and Luigi. His vision blurred in and out of focus. He forced a smile.

"H-Hang on... I'll have you out of there... In no time..." Sonic panted. He did another spin dash breaking the cages. He slowly walked over to the Mario Bros. Luigi looked worried.

"S-Sonic? Are you OK?" Luigi asked, seeing his condition.

"N-Never b-better..." he muttered, shivering. He was losing all his senses, and fast. Falling on the ground, Luigi rushed over to him and shoved something sweet into his mouth. He felt well-enough to get up.

There was a deep hiss. Another large rumble. Heat flared and no one held their ground. It felt like the volcano would erupt soon. Another deep hiss. Something slinked across the ground. They made a run for it. They wound up in the same room Tails was in.

"Tails!" Sonic said, seeing his sleeping friend.

He awoke suddenly. He apologized for sleeping on an important mission and scolded himself mentally The hiss that had been chasing them grew louder. Sonic and Tails were in no condition to fight. Mario, Luigi, and the dino all took a fighting stance waiting for their opponent.


	10. Battle! Nagamima!

The dark serpent that tried to strangle Sonic from before was back, and it wasn't alone. Five serpents in total, one for each of them. The heroes prepared themselves for a battle. Mario brought out his hammer and slammed Luigi into the ground. Luigi then traveled underground and popped back up with a lightning charged punch, and was then sent back into the ground by Mario. This repeated about ten times, each time the serpents hissed in agony.

In the meanwhile, scraping bits of unused parts, Tails built a temporary Medi-Bot to assist Sonic. The conditions didn't look too good for him. Completely tinted green, Sonic could only dully comprehend what was going on. He was confused and weakened to the point of death. Tails tried his best to keep his brother protected.

The serpents regrouped, forming a larger serpent. The dino that was left out in all the action growled.

"Yoshi! We could use your help!" Mario said to the dino.

The proclaimed "Yoshi" ran to the Mario Bros. Luigi got in front of Mario. Yoshi swallowed the Mario Bros... and laid an egg. Tails stared in awe and confusion as Yoshi tossed the egg in the air. The egg bounced off of the head of the serpent, split open, and the Mario Bros. popped out, hammers blazing with fire and electricity. They effectively shocked, burned, and smashed the skull in of the serpent-beast.

The beast writhed in pain, and shrieked so loudly and in such a high pitch it disoriented the heroes, and added insult to injury in Sonic's case. All the energy in the room seemed to be absorbed, Sonic could defiantly feel the same ominous wind from earlier. Snakes seemed to pour in from nowhere. They merged with the serpent-beast, creating a terrifying monster. The beast had three snake heads, each with terrifying red eyes, the torso of an athletic female, and the last limb was a long slithering serpent body. A voice emanated from nowhere.

"Yooou foooolsss..." it hissed, "Nooo ooone fightsss Naagaamiimaa and liivesss tooo telll the tallle... Yooou ssshall perisssh..."

The serpent-beast, supposedly called Nagamima, sent a fist at the Mario Bros. It missed but careened into the machine behind them. There was a cyan light that was instantaneously blotted out by darkness. Nagamima grew a ginormous height. The muscles of the body became massive, the eyes lost their irises, the fangs more sharp, and a dark aura faintly surrounded Nagamima. The tongs flickered in and out, waiting for the Mario Bros. to strike. The air cooled down, but not by much.

Mario did a triple-jump, that hardly did anything to the beast. Luigi brought out his hammer, which bounced off of the metal-like skin. Nagamima laughed and grabbed Mario. He was flung into the main chamber of the volcano. The force did a number on him, but he wasn't out yet. He was severely bruised and stuck in a small crater. He lifted himself up, faced scrunched up in pain. Luigi and Yoshi both ran in the cavern Nagamima chasing after them. Sonic was clinging onto Tails. Both of them limped in. Sonic clutched his bitten shoulder in agony. Tails shouted something, panic written on his face, and pulled out another Medi-Bot. A humongous rumble shook the volcano. Everyone, except Nagamima, fell. The temperature rose to dangerous heights. Mario knew the next tremor would set the volcano off. He could feel the power of the volcano fitting to burst.

"Fooolllsss..." Nagamima hissed, "Theeree isss nothhing lefft ffor yoou..."

Mario thought quickly. Pulling out an Ice Flower he transformed into Ice Mario! The cool powers flowed through him, renewing some strength. He figured that if Nagamima lived in the volcano, then she would never have felt anything below volcanic temperatures. The ice would overtake her.

"Mario! Look out!" he heard his brother shout.

Nagamima threw another punch. But Mario was ready. Jumping on her massive arm, he sprinted up charging a snowball in each hand. He jumped up into the air bringing both snowballs crashing onto two of the three heads. Nagamima's two heads intantly fell off, bleeding a black substance. Nagamima shrieked in pain, writhing on the floor. She swatted Mario away from her and into the lava.

Mario thought he was done for. If he survived the fall, the lava would kill him. But someone caught him by the hand. He looked up to see his savior. Sonic's face poked out. Though in pain, he managed to smile and bring Mario back over the edge. He stood there for a moment before falling back to his side. Something green trickled from his mouth. Mario temporarily forgot what was going on, until he heard Nagamima scream.

Luigi blasted her with a Lightning-Ice attack, thanks to Yoshi being able to store a single ball in his mouth. She cracked, cyan light filled the volcano. A flash of white light, and temperatures dropped back to normal. Nagamima was nowhere to be seen. A cyan gem floated towards Tails. Looking wide-eye as he held it, he quickly rushed to Sonic.

"Please let this work..." he muttered, placing the gem over the bite-wound on Sonic's shoulder.

The gem glowed brightly for a second. Sonic's coloration returned to normal as the wound vanished. Sonic shuddered and half vomited, half hacked up something green from his mouth.

"S-Sonic?" Tails said nervously.

Sonic slowly sat up. Still looking slightly dazed, he looked around. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Remind me that I owe you a lot of things..." Sonic said to Tails with a cocky smirk.

Tails looked overjoyed. He pounced on Sonic and gave him a huge hug. Mario smiled.

"We should head back." Luigi said. Everyone agreed. Mario extended a hand to help Sonic up. He gladly took it. Emerald eyes looked into baby-blue. Both of them had a lot to explain to each other.

The five-some got back to the Yoshi Village. Along the way Sonic and Mario were having a question and answer session. The first was how Sonic got here. He explained, though Mario didn't believe him at first.

"So what are these dino-people called?" Sonic asked.

"They're Yoshi." Mario replied, "This one happens to be the one who helped me when I was little."

He nodded as if to confirm the story. To further prove the point, he licked Mario playfully. Mario laughed at his companion.

"So why were you avoiding me earlier?" Sonic asked, that one question in particular that eluded him.

"Oh, yeah..." Mario mumbled sheepishly, "I honestly thought you were untrustworthy..."

"Hey, don't sweat it. It's all in the past now." Sonic said, giving a grin.

They reached the village, where they received a heroes welcome. The Yoshi of the island crowded together, trying to thank Mario and Sonic individually.

"Outstanding performance, boys." said a familiar voice behind them.

On the edge of the crowd, was Professor Frankly, along with Goombella and Vivian.

"Great job, Mario!" Goombella shouted enthusiastically.

"You were brave too, Sonic." Vivian said.

"Don't give all the credit to us," Sonic said, "If it wasn't for Luigi, Tails, or Yoshi, none of us would be here."

Luigi was astonished, no one had directly given him credit other than Mario. Tails just blushed embarrassed and Yoshi shouted something in a happy way. All to soon it was time to go. Mario offered Goombella to join up again, but was politely refused.

"After all, _someone's_ gotta keep my fiance out of trouble!" Goombella joked.

Vivian rejoined the group and got on the helicopter along with Sonic, Tails, Luigi, and Mario. Tao had a lot of interesting things to say.

"Heard what you did in the volcano." He said, "I knew that whatever was up there would give you no trouble."

"How do you know what went on?" Sonic asked.

"Ass to mouth." Tao replied simply.

Sonic burst out laughing, while Tails and Mario managed to stifle a giggle. Vivian blushed and Luigi scowled at Tao.

"But seriously, great job, you showed that snake lady who's boss!" Tao said happily. The helicopter was filled with question, answers, and happiness as they flew back to the castle.

Off on a cliff on the island, the hooded figure from earlier looked at the helicopter as it flew away. Under the hood, you could see them smile with malice, before retreating into the jungle. A small silvery white crack appeared between two trees, creating an astral visual and depicted an ancient shrine with a large glowing gem...


	11. Rift Woes

Chapter 11

After a long question and answer session on the plain, the heroes made it back safely to the castle. Fortunately, nothing had happened since they left. The castle was still intact and Princess Peach was still there. She smiled to see everyone intact.

"Mario, I'm so glad you're safe..." she said, embracing him in a hug. Mario blushed a little and hugged her back.

After the two broke the hug, Peach properly introduced herself to Tails.

"Y-You're very pretty." Tails blurted. Peach giggled and gave him a small peck on the forehead.

Sonic swore he could hear Mario give a slight grunt of jealousy.

"I just realized, where will Sonic and Tails stay?" Vivian mentioned.

"They can stay here temporarily." Peach said, "They can use the guest rooms."

As this "problem" was fixed, everybody went to their rooms, in the Mario Bros. case home and in Vivians case to the Toad Inn, and all went to sleep.

Peach drifted in darkness for a while before realizing that she was being watched by an unpleasant force. She could smell smoke and blood. She could hear flames and screams. Her body temperature flared to the point of death. Then, there was a faint whisper:

_'Ashes to ashes and dust to dust Kingdoms have ends, and yours simply must...'_

Peach woke up startled at what she felt and heard. She was clammy, and breathing heavily. She looked around and remembered she was safe at her castle. She got out of bed and left for her private courtyard grabbing a bouquet of flowers the had on her dresser. She inhaled their beautiful fragrance as she walked.

Here there was her small childhood possessions from when she was younger, and more innocent. There were her favorite stuffed animals, her first tea set, her first furniture and decorations, and at the other end of the courtyard was a tombstone. It read: "Here lies King Plumb Toadstool: proud parent and wise ruler."

Peach put the flowers on the tombstone and lied on the ground.

"I miss you daddy..." she whispered, tears coming from her eyes. She lay there for a while, her soft sobs almost drowned out by the birds. She remembered the words her father had spoke just mere seconds before he died.

_My dear... Do not fret, for no matter what happens to either of us, we will always have each other..._

The heartache she felt was lifted, but she continued to cry for a short while after. When she was finished, she got up and brushed the dirt from her pajamas. Suddenly ,there was a thud in the garden. She looked around and saw a white figure face down on the ground. Slowly but steadily it got up. In her haste she almost mistook it for Sonic. Its eyes were lined with dark rings, the irises were a warm amber. It had a hairstyle that reminded her of a maple leaf. The chest had fur that went towards the back like a mini cape. The gloves had an alien-like pattern on them with gold cuffs. It checked one of it's gold cuffs.

"Damn it..." it muttered, "I've lost Tails, I've lost the dimensional portal, and my communicator's busted. Where am I anyways? Back at Castle Acorn?"

"Who are you?" Peach asked stepping out of the shadows of the castle wall. The figure was startled.

For a moment it was tense. After seeing she was no threat , it relaxed slightly.

"It's of no importance." it said turning to walk away.

"You said you lost Tails?" She asked, immediately grabbing it's attention.

"Yes! Where is he?" it said desperately.

She calmly walked back to her room, got dressed into her day-time dress and walked to the throne room, where Sonic and Tails were waiting.

Sonic and Tails were astonished at what they saw. Silver was there, in the flesh. He looked relived to see Tails, then utterly shocked to see Sonic.

"S-Sonic?" Silver stammered.

"Hey Silver!" Sonic said, "Long time no see! Or maybe it's only been a few hours for you?"

"But how? You're alive!" Silver managed to spit out.

"It's a long story." Sonic replied.

"Why? Was he supposed to be dead?" Peach asked, looking slightly confused.

"Oh, I guess I should explain what happened to everyone." Sonic said, hearing Mario, Luigi and Vivian enter.

"Explain what?" Luigi asked.

Sonic told them what had happened after he died. He explained what had happened, who he met, and what he had seen and encountered up until that day. When he was finished everyone was astounded, especially Silver.

"So wait, that gem we collected earlier was that a Chronos Emerald?" Mario asked.

"It's Chaos Emerald, and yes." Sonic replied.

"But how can you be dead for so many years and just suddenly turn up? I know that time is different in space, but not by _that_ much." Tails asked.

"I think it might have to do with the Chaos Emeralds." Silver replied, "They _can_ control time and space, if used correctly."

"Oh yeah..." Tails said, "It's been such a long time since I'd worked with the Emeralds that I'd forgotten."

"So, how did you two get here?" Sonic asked Silver and Tails.

Tails explained all he knew about the situation. Silver was hesitant to share, but did so anyways.

"In the future, something completely devastated the world." Silver spoke, "Without Sonic to protect us we were overrun by someone with an army of black monsters. I grew up living in the devastation. Either of starvation or gang members or of the monsters that were there with the invaders, millions fled underground and millions more died. Sonic's death was for naught, and everyone ran in sheer terror. The lucky ones died within a week or found shelter. The unlucky ones roamed the planet, trying to struggle for survival. Finally, when I found a way to travel through time, I managed to meet with Tails. Everything else is what he said."

When he was finished Sonic looked thoughtful. Everyone else, excluding Tails, was stunned.

"Is that why you traveled through time before the assassins tried to kill us?" Sonic asked, looking sternly.

"Yes," Silver said, "I thought that they were the cause of the future being wrecked, but when I returned I saw that wasn't the case."

Suddenly, Toadsworth ran into the room looking frantic.

"P-Princess, come quickly!" he exclaimed, "T-There's something in the courtyard!"

"What is it?" she asked

"I'm not sure, but I don't think it's a good thing." he tried to say calmly, but he ran out the room right after. Peach left the room, as everyone followed Toadsworth. She felt an ominous wind blow as she heard the warning again.

_'Ashes to ashes and dust to dust Kingdoms have ends, and yours simply must...'_

She shuddered, what could it mean? How would her kingdom fall? She shook her head and tried to focus on the present.

In the courtyard, there was a strange white rift splitting the center. In the rift, they could see another castle courtyard. Silver stood there looking at the strange rift in fear. Sonic looked at it and walked close to it.

"I wouldn't get too close if I were you." Silver said.

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"That rift you're looking at, that's a dimensional-time rift." Silver explained, "They create bridges to different worlds and timelines. They're highly unstable, no one knows if you can go back through the rift you went through."

Sonic picked up a rock and threw it through the rift. It seemed to slow down passing through the rift like it was going through a firm gelatin. When it got to the other side, he could see it right outside the rift. Sonic poked his finger in it. It was cold, making Sonic shudder. Silver looked on with a look of panic. He swallowed hard. Was Sonic really considering to go through that thing?

There was a small rumble. Sonic looked around, half expecting to see Eggman and Bowser again. The rumble grew to a quake that made everyone stumble.

"Th-The rift...!" Silver tried to warn Sonic before he fell in.

One second, Sonic felt incredibly cold, like he was being plunged into arctic waters. He could see everyone in slow motion. The next second he was through the other side and on the ground. He got up and saw the rift had grown a little wider.

"Sonic?" He could hear Silver's voice through the rift. It was like he was speaking through water.

"Silver, I'm alright." Sonic called back. Silver looked confused. Perhaps his voice was to distorted for them to understand.

Remembering the fact that no one knew if people could come back from these kinds of rifts, he took the rock he threw earlier and tossed it at the rift. The second it came into contact with the rift, it turned black and disintegrated. Sonic shuddered, glad he didn't decide to jump straight for it. The contact of the rock also seemed to have an effect on the rift. It blackened and solidified blocking others from entering. The last thing he saw through the rift was Silver's look of panic.

"My, my... You've put yourself in quite the... predicament, haven't you?" said someone from behind Sonic.

He whipped around and found a strange jester floating lazily above him. His face was a black and white mask. One eye was black on the white side and the other was yellow on the black side. His pink mouth was upturned int a smirk of sorts, not snide but instead amused.

"Who are you?" Sonic said, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"I am of no importance... But most call me Dimento." he said humbly, bowing while his smirk formed into a grin, "Would you be most gracious as to provide your name to me?"

"The name's Sonic." he said.

"Hm... It is a... pleasure to meet you." Dimento said, carefully choosing his words, as if they may be his last.

Sonic nodded. Dimento looked at the blackened rift thoughtfully for a second.

"I could help you get back though the rift..." Dimento said casually.

"There's an if to that isn't there?" Sonic said. Dimento just looked back at him.

Silence. Sonic weighed the odds. On the one hand, he could do something stupid and get back to the others quickly, or he could wander aimlessly in this world and may not com back until everyone was dead, if he even did make it at all.

"Alright, what do you want?" Sonic said, with a sigh. Dimento had a simple grin on his face.

"Would you care to play a game?" he said.


	12. Dizzying Memory Maze

Sonic looked up in confusion at the little floating jester. A game? Either it was a challenge or Sonic was over-thinking it.

"What kind of a game did you have in mind?" Sonic asked.

Dimento smiled. Suddenly, Sonic felt his body grow lighter. He became dizzy and almost fell. Around him, he could see a distinct change in scenery. It changed from the courtyard to an area with hedges that seemed to reach the sky. His stomach lurched as he felt himself reach the ground again. When he was able to become aware again, Dimento was nowhere to be found.

"Welcome to Memory Maze." Dimento's voice emanated from seemingly nowhere, "A place of hidden secrets, lost thoughts, and redemption. If you can make it out alive."

Sonic looked around wildly. He heard Dimento as if he was right there.

"I'll make you a bargain," Dimento continued, "If you can find me in this maze, you win, and I'll send you back. However, I'll be taking your super speed away, to make things more interesting."

Sonic suddenly felt like a part of him was being sucked away, and it hurt like hell. The pain forced him to his hands and knees. He looked up, and saw something float in front of him, a blue sphere, before it flew away. Sonic was left with an empty feeling in his heart.

"If you start now, you can get out of here. You'll still have a high amount of stamina. Good luck!" Dimento finished.

"Pull it together, Sonic..." he muttered to himself, "You've gone without your speed more than once, this is no different. Where do I start?"

He got up and started to run what would seem like forever to him.

Silver looked on in horror. Sonic had just vanished behind a now deactivated rift. Fortunately, it didn't collapse in on itself like it would for most people.

Tails had a thoughtful look on his face. What would compel Sonic to go through the rift? He frowned. Yeah, Sonic was reckless, but he had reasons as to why he would rush into the fray. Furthermore, this rift acted curiously. Instead of collapsing in on it's self, it became opaque and black. He knew this had to be some sort of rip, but in what? Space? Time? Both?

Something foul stained the air. It came so suddenly, everyone gagged. It smelled horrible. It was a smell of burning, decaying flesh, of fresh blood, and of rotting plants. It smelled of complete organic death.

"Urgh! What is that smell?" Tails cried, holding his sensitive nose.

Silver looked around wildly. He had more panic on his face than Luigi would ever have in a lifetime.

"H-How could they be here?" Silver said, "There's no way-!"

A loud, high-pitched scream erupted. Silver and Tails covered their ears in agony, screaming. Mario and Luigi didn't hear anything. A group of skinny, black monsters with purple eyes suddenly emerged from the shadows. They grinned with malice, their purple teeth sharp and glistening.

"Princess, get to cover!" Mario said. But Peach was nowhere to be found.

The Mario Bros. got into a fighting stance, ready to take on the monsters. One look was all the monsters needed before they decided to attack.

Sonic had not even made a few turns and he was already confused. It seemed the maze liked to change from time to time.

"If only I had landmarks..." He thought, wistfully. As he continued to fumble his way through the maze, he stumbled upon a strange glowing stone. It was a soft teal color. It seemed to whisper to him as he got closer to it. Curiosity reached him, and for the stone. As soon as he touched it he felt a pleasant feeling. Warmth and security, like an old home. He felt ground underneath him change from a grassy area to a home.

When he looked around, he saw his robotized father, Jules, sitting on a chair at home. His eyes weren't glowing, meaning he was asleep or pretending to be so.

"Dad?" Sonic said. If his father heard him, he made no movement to recognize so.

The window across from him burst open. There, on the windowsill, was a green hedgehog with a black leather jacket, two scars across his chest, ice blue eyes, red sunglasses and a silver crown-like object on his forehead.

"Scourge." Sonic growled.

"Top-notch security you've got here, Sonic, ha!" Scourge said, not noticing his old rival.

Jules eyes suddenly switched on, focusing on the new intruder.

"Good evening. Scourge, isn't it?" his father said solemnly.

Scourge looked around for a second, before his eyes fell upon the Robian.

"Oh great. Another Metal Sonic." he growled, scowling.

"Actually, I'm his father." Jules corrected him, switching a light on for Scourge to see.

"Ah, so that would make you Jules." Scourge said, cocky smirk now showing, "Hey there, 'Dad'." he added in a sarcastic tone. Sonic gave a small snarl of anger. Jules looked at Scourge for a second before saying anything.

"Given how late it is, I'm guessing this is not a cordial visit." Jules remarked, not changing his tone.

"Just some late-night surprise-pummeling." Scourge said, indifferently. A long pause. Sonic walked in between the two of them. They acted like they didn't see them. Sonic looked at Scourge in wonder.

"I almost died saving my son once." Jules said, having his hands folded together, as though he was in a meeting.

"You want a medal?" Scourge scoffed, making Sonic growl.

"No." Jules counteracted, "I just want you to understand I will do what it takes to keep my son safe."

Sonic smirked. "Take that, Scourge." he said.

"Cute. Trying to prove you're not afraid of me?" Scourge said, giving a half menacing, half cocky glare.

"What's to be afraid of?" Jules replied, "This world is full of heroic beings that fight a single great evil. That tells me your world is full of cowards, each doing their part to ruin their world. That's why you don't scare me – because I know at your core, you're a coward too." He explained, not moving from his position.

Sonic grinned. He certainly proved his point well.

"Coward? I conquered a planet on my own!" Scourge snarled, pointing at his silver crown.

"You brought your own form of ruination." Jules stated, waving off the comment with his voice.

"Try again, Pops." Scourge growled, "On _my_ world, we had a time called 'The Great Peace'. My dad was part of that. Brought everyone into one big group hug. Ten years later, everything had stagnated and fallen apart. I didn't ruin the world, I woke it up!" Sonic saw something strange happen to Scourge for a second. Scourge looked unhappy, almost frightened that those events would take him over again.

"_That's_ your answer to it all? Violent takeover and anarchy?" Jules said, after Scourge was done.

"Not really anarchy, since everyone bows to me." Scougre said, waving off the sudden moment pain he felt, "Since you seem so hung up on the correlations, how do you like this one: Sonic's dad isn't really a Mobian anymore. My dad simply _isn't_." Another wave of pain for Scourge. Sonic almost missed it in his sudden flurry of anger at this statement, but Scourge now showed regret and sadness.

"Are you trying to shock me? Intimidate?" Jules asked, waving away Scourge's statements, "That falls short when the mighty world-conquering 'king' has to sneak in the middle of the night to get a leg up on my boy."

Scourge cringed a little at the statement. Sonic thought his Dad had him now.

"Sonic's good at smashing bots." Scourge said advancing on Jules, "Want to see what _I_ can do?" he added getting on to of him.

"GET THE HELL OFF OF HIM, YOU–!" Sonic snarled, rushing towards him in a flurry of anger, only to pass through his father and his arch-nemesis like they weren't even there.

Jules got up suddenly, making Scourge stumble on the floor.

"I am not your father." Jules stated, become a little more intimidating, "I was on the front lines of the Great War, I won't go quietly, and while you may not care about the loss of _your_ Jules, I'm certain _my_ son will be very upset. Do you want that on your head too?"

Scourge looked shocked then turned away, heading for the window. Sonic, being curious, looked as Scouge's face now. He was shocked at what he saw. All the fear, remorse and sadness from the conversation was now reflected on his face, and to top it off, Scourge was actually _crying!_ Not loudly, but tears still streaked across his muzzle.

"Just a bunch of empty words..." Scourge said, struggling to keep his voice in control, "You're no different from my old man after all..." He then left, jumping out the window and running away.

Sonic followed him, wondering what happened next.

"Jules, I though I heard voices." he heard his mother say, "You look nervous. Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody." He heard his father reply.

Sonic ran, catching up to his counterpart. He saw Scourge panting, rage emanated off of his body like an unpleasant heat.

"Damnit!" Scourge snarled, hitting a tree with his fist, "I had him! And who interrupts me? A damn counterpart!"

_'Sonic...'_

He swore he heard a voice on the wind. Scourge certainly heard it, fear plastered his face. His eyes were dilated and he became pale.

"No..." Scourge said, "No, damnit, no!"

Scourge suddenly scrunched up, head in his knees.

"I-I didn't do it! It wasn't my fault!" He shouted, hands clutching his head like it was about to explode.

_'Sonic...'_

"I didn't do it! I'm not to blame!" Scourge continued, trying to ignore the voice.

_'Sonic...'_

"I'M NOT YOUR KILLER!" Scourge cried out, breaking down into pathetic sobs.

Sonic couldn't watch anymore. He turned his head the other way...

… And found himself back in the maze. Sonic looked around. Realizing the bushes were no longer green but red.

'_What was that?' _Sonic thought.

"Congratulations." Dimento said, "You've gotten though the first part of the game. But you still have this stage and the next to complete."

"Fantastic..." Sonic muttered. He had no choice but to continue running.

He ran through the maze, this one seemingly easier than the last. After only a few minutes of running, he came across a clearing. It was a clear circle, with six white pillars standing tall around and one black in the center. He walked through, wondering how long these pillars had been here. He checked them.

They looked like they were brand-new, and each one had a gold plaque on the bottom. The first one he walked to said:

"_A noble hero, protector of hearts, and ruler of multiple worlds._

_This pillar shall only open to the Keyblade King."_

Sonic was puzzled over the meaning of the plaque, and moved on to the next one:

"_A child of half – origins, his righteous courage shall fell mighty foes._

_This pillar shall only open to the Ghost Halfa."_

Confused, yet again, Sonic couldn't shake the feeling that he was reading something that would weigh heavily on his head later. He moved on to the next pillar:

"_His kindness and compassion towards others encourages his friends to move forward._

_This pillar shall only open to the Limbless Wonder."_

Sonic pondered over whatever these pillars might be, and if they were made by a madman. Sighing and shaking that thought off, he move over to the next pillar:

"_An intellectual, his reasoning and patience protects all he meets._

_This pillar shall only open to the King of Puzzles."_

Sonic still couldn't shake off the feeling that this place would become of great importance later, reading the next pillar:

"_His outstanding bravery and commitment to his tasks makes him a formidable foe to evil._

_This pillar shall only open to the Mushoom Plumber."_

Sonic couldn't help but laugh at this title. After he had his laughing fit, he finally moved to the next pillar:

"_Reborn, his leadership skills and quick movements shall smite all evil in the Cosmos._

_This pillar shall only open to the Speed Master."_

As Sonic approached the pillar, it seemed to resonate with energy, faintly. When he was right in front of it, he could see it shimmer with a faint aura. The next thing he knew, the pillar glowed in a blue light, completely engulfing him. He felt his body launch into the air then stop suddenly. Opening his eyes, he noticed he was adrift in a blue surrounding. In front of him was a ball of light, brighter than the surroundings. He looked at the sphere and reached out to it. Before he touched it, he felt his body stiffen, forcibly. He then saw a darkness cover the light he reached out for, and reached beyond to him. The light dimmed, and he couldn't see anything.

A discord of noises hit his ears. Screams of sorrow and pain, shouts of rage, cries of desperation. He heard all of this. He now felt he could move his body and he struggled to find the light again. Moving forward, the noises dimmed as he noticed the same ball of light. He could feel immense power emanating from it, in multiple forms he noticed. First off, the Chaos power was beyond anything he could comprehend. There were other powers mixed in as well, but he didn't recognize them. He reached out towards the light, trying to obtain this thing. When he touched it, it split into seven different lights: Blue, red, brown, green, purple, gray, and black. The blue light stayed with him, while the other lights scattered. It entered him, and he could feel a rejuvenating force within him. As he was plunged into darkness, a voice seemed to emanate from nowhere:

"_I see you have found your way accidentally to my imprisonment... You are one of the six... Which means it has begun anew..."_

Without another thought, he felt his body hit the ground. Looking around again, he saw he was back inside the maze, only a familiar figure was in front of him.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you." Dimento said, "It looks like you've made it." He was smiling the entire time.

"Your promise?" Sonic asked, impatiently.

"In due time, first you must have your abilities back, no?" Dimento said.

Sonic could feel the hole in his heart fill again. He knew that he regained his super speed again. He was lifted into the air once more...

And they found themselves in the courtyard again. There was the rift, no longer black. Sonic could see everyone back at the castle, but it looked like something had attacked. He ran through the rift without another thought.

Dimento lingered for a moment. "How rude..." he commented, before disappearing into another dimension.

When he came through the rift, he saw everyone battered and on the ground. Sonic rushed over to Silver and saw he was still alive, just passed out. Mario was the first one to wake up.

"Mama mia..." he said, staggering as he got up.

"Mario? What happened here?" Sonic asked, as he helped the mustached man up.

"I don't remember much..." Mario said, holding his head, "One minute, the rift closed up on us, the next, these black creatures came out of nowhere..."

"Let's get you inside." Sonic said, letting Mario rest on his shoulder. After settling him down in the nearest chair, Sonic ran and got everyone else to the infirmary. It was just as Sonic returned to Mario, Vivian and Princess Peach walked toward them.

"... That sounds awful!" Vivian was saying.

"It was." Peach replied, "Mario!" she added, rushing over towards her hero, and giving him hug.

Mario blushed and returned the hug awkwardly. Vivian smiled and Sonic smirked, looking in a different direction.

"I'm glad that you're awake, Master Mario, but where are the others?" Toadsworth asked.

"I rushed them to the infirmary. They're being treated now." Sonic replied.

"That's good." Peach said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Whatever those things were, it looks like they only wanted to cause some mischief." Vivian commented.

Sonic got the feeling that wasn't the case. Helping Mario up, he got the red plumber to the infirmary. There was a pink, female mushroom person, like Toadsworth.

"Mario! Ohmigosh, I thought you were dead or worse!" she said, "When I heard and saw what happened outside, and your brother was suddenly rushed in without you, I was so scared."

"I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon, Toadette." Mario said, lying on the nearest bed.

"Not with all of these injuries you're not!" she replied, becoming serious, "Lie down and get some rest, I'll get some medicine for you."

Mario did as he was told. He passed right after his head touched the pillow. Peach grabbed a chair nearby and sat down next to Mario.

"Do you think you could tell me what happened?" Sonic asked the princess.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened. All I saw were these black monsters. Toadsworth rushed me out before I could see what happened. I'm sorry." she replied.

Sonic nodded. He couldn't think of who could send those things. Eggman normally used robots, so this would be unusual for him, unless they were made of nanobots.

"Do you think that turtle thing could have done this?" Sonic asked.

"Bowser? I'm not sure... Maybe..." Peach said.

Sonic nodded. He exited the castle, and saw, to his shock, the town was demolished. Furrious and determined, he went to go help those in the most need.


	13. A Truly Interesting Night

One long week. It had been one long week since the attack on the castle. It had been one long week since they got the first Chaos Emerald. It had been five long days since tremors have become common all over the world. It had been three long days since everyone had recovered from the fight.

Today would prove to be a little more interesting than the past week ever had been.

The sun was shining over Toad Town. There was not a gray cloud in the sky. The villagers were bustling to and fro, because in less than two weeks time, would be the return of the 100 year comet. Banners were being hung, special treats were being made, lovers made plans, and children rejoiced in with their time off from school. However, not all was peaceful as they displayed it to be. Tremors that could tear buildings apart occurred twice within the same month. Rifts, not unlike the one in the Castle, appeared with the tremors, and existing ones grew wider. E. Gadd, Tails, and Prof. Frankly set up a lab to examine the rift and determine the cause of these rifts, where one will appear next, and what to do if the rifts grow out of control.

Sonic, Mario, Luigi, Silver, and Vivian had been helping others in anyway that they could. If a house fell down, they all worked together to fix it, or if it was beyond repair, they would help build a new one. If there was any sort of a threat, they would attempt to subdue it or get rid of it.

Princess Peach did her best to rule her people, as she gave speeches and encouraged them to not despair, even if the worry in her own heart grew. She had similar nightmares since the one she received not so long ago.

Since those black creatures appeared, everyone agreed that training up to fight against them would be best in case they ever came back.

"Sonic, I've got your back!" Vivian shouted, running from the blasts of electricity and fire.

Sonic nodded as he rushed into Mario and Luigi, knocking the former down and making the latter stagger. Vivian charged her fire and aimed it at Luigi, fortunately his staggering was enough to make her miss, and aim electricity back at her. She was unable to slink into the shadows fast enough and was hit with a blast of electricity, knocking her out.

Mario gave a smirk as he got up, whipping a fireball at Sonic. Sonic dodged the fire with ease, and using a Homing Attack, knocking Luigi out. Sonic turned to face Mario. After a stare off, the two charged at each other, Mario with a charged fireball in his hand. Just as the two were about to collide, Sonic faked out and kicked Mario around the head, knocking the plumber out.

Slowly the three fighters that were knocked down, got back up.

"Wow, Sonic, that was amazing!" Vivian said.

Mario gave a nod of approval, before helping his brother up.

"Oww..." was all Luigi could say.

All day they had been practicing, and almost every time the Mario Bros. lost although they put up an excellent fight as well. They still couldn't match Sonic's speed, no matter how hard they tried.

"Want to try again?" Sonic asked the group, stretching his arms out.

Mario was about to say yes, until he heard a voice calling them inside.

It was in the evening, after Peach commanded them to stop training for the festival, that everyone began to enjoy themselves. Everyone except Silver, that is. Instead he chose to stand away from everyone, looking at the sky instead, scanning it for things other than the Comet. It seemed everyone was having so much fun, that no one, except Vivian, noticed.

"What's wrong, Silver?" she asked the white hedgehog.

"It feels like something terrible is going to happen. I'm not sure what it is, but something bad is going to happen." he replied to the former Shadow Siren.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Silver." she commented, smiling.

Silver looked at her for a second, before returning her friendly gesture with a smile. And for a moment, Vivian's heart gave a leap, as she almost blushed.

"So, whacha guys up to?" Sonic shouted happily, as he embraced the two in a friendly hug.

"Ah! S-Sonic!" Vivian said startled.

"Y'know, maybe they're meeting in secret." Luigi said, approaching the group with bags in his hands.

Silver glared at the mustachioed man.

"Waaah! I-I was only kidding!" Luigi stammered, almost tripping.

"Hey, where's Mario?" Vivian asked

"He's with the Princess, making sure that she isn't kidnapped again." Sonic replied.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be there too?" Luigi asked

"Oh, right! See you guys later!" Sonic said before running to the center.

A hush fell over the crowd as, Princess Peach started her speech on the festival, and Sonic made it just in time to sit next to Mario.

"My loyal subjects..." she began.

"Where have you been?" Mario hissed through clenched teeth.

"I've been looking after your brother." Sonic whispered back.

"All evening?" Mario asked.

"Yeah, he asked me to come along with him since you were busy with guarding the Princess and all..." Sonic replied.

"I could of-" Mario began

There was a sudden, almost unanimous, gasp as the people looked upward. Sonic, Mario, and Peach looked upwards. To both of their amazement, there were two moons in the sky. They could hear frightened whispers in the crowds.

"Two moons?"

"Where did it come from?"

"Are those lights on it I see?"

"My loyal subjects, do not be alarmed," Peach spoke, her voice resounding over the crowd.

"Eggman." Sonic growled, recognizing on sight the Space Colony ARK.

"What?" Mario asked.

"That's the ARK," Sonic said indicating the second moon, "It's a space station that orbited my planet. We have to find Vivian, Luigi, and Silver, I'll explain more on the way."

"Wait." Mario said holding Sonic's arm, "Doesn't it look like the comet is going to crash into the ARK?"

As Sonic looked, he saw that Mario was right, and if he was right they had little time to find the others. A large tremble shook the town, sending it into a panic. Mario ran to the Princess as Sonic ran ahead, looking desperately for Silver and Vivian in the crowd. He shouted for the others, and soon found a teal light out from the corner of his eye. Turning he found Silver flying with Vivian, with Luigi running across the rooftops. They were headed to the square, where Mario and Peach were. Sonic tailed back to the square and saw Tails and E. Gadd there.

"Tails, do you have any idea what's going on?" Sonic shouted over the panicking crowd.

"We're not entirely sure but Elvin and I think that the arrival of the ARK might have something to with the tremor." he responded.

A large shock wave, knocked some people on the ground. The group of heroes looked up and saw that the comet was definitely on a crash course with the space station, and by that time, there was nothing they could do but look up and watch them both explode. However, instead of both exploding, it seemed that the ARK deflected the comet, unfortunately, straight towards the planet. Coincidentally, it headed straight for the town square. The people screamed, as they ran for shelter, and the heroes ran from the square.

As the comet crashed into the square, there was a flash of teal light. Sonic saw that Silver was just barely holding up what appeared to be a whole city. Sonic could tell he was straining from all the pressure, and would be crushed if he didn't move. Sonic ran under the city, and grabbed a now knocked out Silver, effortlessly. The city crashed as safely as it could into the ground, and it seemed no one was harmed, thankfully. Everyone could only stop and stare at this unusual sight. Was this really the comet that flew by every 100 years?

Then, out of some of the homes in the city, there came out chubby stars all different colors, the most prominent color were yellow stars. Then, a woman stepped forth from the city. She looked like Peach in many ways, but there were key figures that made her different. Her hair was lighter and less wild, she wore a simple mint dress and her eyes were more delicate. As she came out, she staggered for a moment, but then quickly recovered and looked around before setting her eyes on Mario.

"Mario, it has been a while." she said, as she walked towards him.

"It's nice to see you Rosalina, even if the Observatory did crash into the planet." Mario replied.

"A home can be repaired or replaced, lives cannot." she said, "I need to know if the all the Lumas are ok."

Sonic noticed a smell in the air, one that was very metallic-like, and made him sick to his stomach. Looking at Rosalina, he saw her dress was stained with red. Setting Silver down, he half walked, half ran to her.

"Rosalina? I think you're injured." he said.

"I will attend to that when I see the Lumas are ok." Rosalina said giving a small glance at her dress. She then hurried to the crashed city and started to talk to the stars.

Sonic shrugged, and went back to Mario, Luigi, and Peach.

"You know her?" Sonic asked Mario.

"I know her, too." Luigi input, "You never told her I found those Power Stars." he added, scowling at Mario.

"I told you I tried, but she talked over me!" Mario said defensively.

Luigi rolled his eyes in response.

"I've never gotten the chance to meet her in person, but Mario mentioned her." Peach said.

Sonic nodded. The heroes went to make sure that the Toads and the Lumas were fine. Afterwords, Lumas and Toads alike began to overcome the fear and help each other. Rosalina was brought to the hospital to have her wounds treated, they were only cuts and bruises, nothing too serious, and they brought her to the castle to explain her story. Mario and Luigi also told Sonic what they knew from their adventure.

"So... there were entire galaxies made of water?" Sonic said uneasily.

Mario nodded. "Now that I think about it, the surfing and swimming citizens of Delfino Island would have loved them." he added, thoughtfully.

Sonic looked ill for a moment, then quickly regained composure. At that moment, Rosalina, Peach, Toadsworth, and E. Gadd walked out of the conference room. They all looked very grave.

"So what's up?" Sonic asked the group.

"To make a long story short, Rosalina doesn't have any power to lift her ship off the ground." E. Gadd explined.

"And I don't know where the Grand Stars are..." Rosalina said, "They are hidden from me."

"At least theirs a bright side to this." Luigi said.

Everyone, excluding Sonic, stared at him.

"You're in good hands, Rosalina. Not to mention you crashed into us, no pun intended." Luigi explined, "Plus, you still have a home, the Lumas, and Mario."

"And if something happens to him, you still have the rest of us to count on." Sonic said smiling, "We'll help you through this, together." he added, giving a wink and thumb up.

"... Thank you, Luigi and Sonic." Rosalina said smiling.

"I think we should all get some sleep." Peach said, yawning and glancing at a clock. The hands were pointed at 1:49.

"Quite right, Princess!" Toadsworth said nodding in agreement.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to take a look at your Comet Observatory. Maybe Tails and I can fix it, or find the problem with it." E. Gadd said to Rosalina.

Rosaline hesitated, but agreed, but she would only allow it under her supervision.

After everyone had left the conference room, Sonic stayed behind. All week he'd been feeling a presence of another person, and he wanted to confront them personally.

"I know you're there." Sonic said calmly, not turning around.

A figure dropped behind him.

"About time we were alone." they said, "I've been waiting for days but, 'all good things come to those who wait'."

Sonic turned around to come face to face with a red-eyed, green and black hedgehog.

"Who are you?" Sonic said, definatly not liking the energy that came off of him.

"... My name is Ashura, and I challenge you to a fight Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Without warning, Ashura lept upon him. Sonic reacted and dodged the attack before being pinned to the ground, and counteracted with a punch to the face. Ashura staggered for a moment, before charging a spindash and launching himself at his opponent.

_'N-No way!'_ was all Sonic could think.

A direct hit dizzied Sonic and made him vulnerable to another attack. Ashura kicked him, tripping him and uppercut him making the azure hedgehog soar. Sonic retaliated with a Homing Attack and knocked Ashura down. Both of them charged a Spindash and clashed, struggling for a moment. Sonic bounced Ashura off of him, and summoned a hammer that was given to him by the Mario Bros.

THWACK!

He used it to knock Ashura out of his attack, then came in for a second attack onto his head. With that both hedgehogs backed off, both breathing heavy from the fight.

"Ah... Ha... You're pretty fast." Sonic said.

"And... You're stronger... Than I thought." Ashura huffed.

The two stared at each other.

"You win this time," Ashura said smiling, "but next time you might not be so lucky." With that he went into the shadows and vanished.

Sonic could only look in confusion. Looking around he found no traces of Ashura. Giving up he went to go and get his bruises treated.

It was quiet in the lush forest. The Flickies were asleep in the trees, the Chao all cozy in their beds. In the distance, there was a small, cute house. Inside, was a Hero Chao with a bowtie and a teen rabbit, wearing a frilly tanktop and jeans. They were in the kitchen making a delicious surprise.

"Won't this cake be lovely for Amy?" the rabbit asked her Chao.

He nodded his head and said "Chao!"

"I'm glad you agree." she said, "She hasn't smiled in a long time. Not since..." she couldn't bring herself to say it, but instead put the chocolate confection in the oven.

"Anyways, she'll smile with this cake!" she said cheerfully.

A sudden quake shook the house. This one more violent that last.

"Oh no! Not again!" the rabbit said, gripping the nearest wall.

There was a bright flash of light and the quakes stopped. The rabbit looked around, and saw that not much moved around, thankfully. There was however, something in the backyard that wasn't there before. Grabbing a frying pan from the kitchen, she went into her backyard.

As the rabbit looked she found that there was a thing in her yard. Or six things to be exact. Two hands, two shoes, a head and a body. There were no arms or legs.

_'Is it a toy?'_ she thought. Her Chao floated over to the thing on the ground and started batting at the brown blonde hair with a scowl on his face. Cream took a careful look at this thing.

It's head looked like an animal with the way the hair and the nose was. The hands were white, possibly gloved, and the shoes were yellow and white. The body looked like there was a sweater on, it was purple with a white ring and the hood was red.

"Ngh... Ow..." the thing grunted as the rabbit poked it with the handle of her frying pan. Her Chao was so startled, he flew back to the rabbit and scowled again.

It sat up slowly. She gasped as she saw it was moving without limbs. She also noticed the eyes were conjoined, and they were a deep blue.

"What happened?" he asked himself, "Who are you?" he added noticing the rabbit.

"I could ask you the same thing!" she snapped, raising her frying pan threateningly.

"Woah! Hey take it easy! I'm not here to do anything!" he said, in reaction to the frying pan, "And where is here exactly? How did I get here?" He added more to himself.

The rabbit saw that whatever this thing was, he wasn't here to harm anyone. In fact, maybe he wasn't supposed to be here at all, maybe something weird beyond her comprehension happened and he wound up here by accident.

"I'm Cream and this is my Chao, Cheese." she said.

"I'm Rayman." he said.


End file.
